Farm ministry to buy back 210,000 tons of rice released from its stockpiles
The government released stockpiles of rice last year to lower prices, a move that significantly depleted reserves of the grain.
The Japanese farm ministry plans to repurchase 210,000 metric tons of rice from the 2025 harvest to help lower prices, according to agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki. This move comes after the ministry released 590,000 metric tons of rice from its emergency stockpiles last year, bringing the current reserves down to 320,000 metric tons.
The government's target for rice stockpiles is 1 million metric tons, emphasizing the importance of food security. The ministry intends to buy back rice from this year's harvest and may increase the amount repurchased depending on the rice supply situation. While rice prices have been fluctuating between ¥3,000 and ¥3,500 per 5-kilogram bag, the impact of the government's repurchase on prices remains uncertain.
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
